Dr. Paul McGowan:

There is no legislative framework in place for the district heating sector in Ireland at the moment. Unlike in the gas and electricity sectors, there is no customer protection framework or economic regulatory framework. Having said that, the climate action plan contains an ambitious target for district heating. In anticipation of that, a steering group has been established. Consideration is being given to what an economic regulatory framework might look like. In the meantime, the elements of the existing renewable energy directive and other legislation at EU level are being transposed and, as part of that, the CRU is being given some functions in the regulation of district heating. Those functions have not kicked in yet so we have no function as of now.

The customers to whom the Deputy has spoken are not gas customers but heat customers. The gas customer is the person who buys the gas and burns it to create the heat that is then sold on. Those customers do not have any consumer protection under the current regulatory framework we operate. The company that buys the gas has protection, and if it has an issue with its contract and feels the supplier has not dealt with it fairly, it can bring a complaint to the CRU. Unfortunately, we have no statutory function in respect of individual houses that buy heat. I hope that will be addressed as part of the new district heating regulatory framework that will be put in place.